How to Propagate Heather

Heather requires well-drained acidic soil.

Heather, a drought-tolerant, hardy plant, creates a colorful year-round bed of flowers and foliage nearly impenetrable to weeds. While heathers are not often grown in the United States, they can thrive in the mild coastal climate of the Bay Area if given six or more hours of sun each day, protection from winter winds and afternoon shade in warmer inland and mountain regions. New heather plants should be propagated from a healthy parent plant less than three years old from a cutting or by layering.

From Cutting

1

Place a 1-inch layer of compost made from three parts peat moss and one part perlite in the bottom of a 6-inch clay pot. Fill a 4-inch plastic pot with sand, and place the smaller pot inside the larger one. Fill in around the smaller pot with compost mix.

2

Locate a firm side shoot stem that's just beginning to turn the color of straw from a young, vibrant parent plant. Cut just below the flowering part of the stem with a sharp knife or pruning shears and again 1.5 to 2 inches farther down, immediately below a set of leaves.

3

Rub your thumb and forefinger down the lower inch of the cutting to remove any dead leaves.

4

Poke holes with a nail, spaced 1 inch apart, in the compost between the two pot rims. Place one cutting in each hole, and water the compost and sand thoroughly to seal the holes.

5

Place the pots in a polyurethane bag large enough to clear the tops of the cuttings and seal it. Place the covered pot out of direct sunlight and leave for several months, or until early spring. Check the bag for fogging periodically, and add water to the sand if the bag is not fogging.

6

Wean the cuttings out of the bag by unsealing and lifting the bag slightly for gradually longer periods of time over the course of a week or two. Remove the sand pot, and divide the cuttings with a dull kitchen knife before transplanting to your garden.

From Layering

1

Select a low-growing branch from the outside of the heather plant you'd like to propagate, and dig a shallow trench running just beneath the branch. Fill the trench near to the top with equal parts peat moss and grit sand.

2

Bend the selected branch down and into the trench, being careful not to snap it. Turn the tip of the branch upward and secure the bend to the ground by staking it with a 6-inch wire hook.

3

Cover the length of the branch with the peat and sand mixture, leaving the tip of the branch pointing vertically out of the soil. Create a mound of peat and sand mixture around the base of the tip to support it. Water the area thoroughly.

4

Sever the branch connecting the new plant to the parent plant after 9 to 10 months. Carefully dig up the root ball and transplant it in its final position in your garden.

Things You Will Need

Peat moss

Perlite

6-inch clay pot

4-inch plastic pot

Sand

Established heather plant

Sharp knife or pruning shears

Nail

Polyurethane bag

Kitchen knife

6-inch wire hook

Tip

Take cuttings in summer and replant them in the garden the following spring.

Periodically check heather cuttings after two to three months for rooting by gently tugging on them. If a cutting comes out easily, it hasn't rooted and should be replaced with a new cutting.

About the Author

Lydia Stephens began writing professionally in 2009. She has written online for Nile Guides, SheKnows.com and various other websites and has been published in "Stringing Magazine" and "Xiamen Wave." Stephens played competitive soccer for 19 years, has been weight lifting since 2007 and enjoys running, biking and sailing. She has a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from the University of Texas.